(Des Moines) Teenagers as young as 16 could provide care to children of any age in child care centers, unsupervised by an adult, if a bill that advanced Wednesday in an Iowa House subcommittee becomes law.
House Study Bill 8 would expand existing law by allowing minors to provide “flex care” for children from infancy to age 2 at a child care center without adult supervision. Currently, teenagers are limited to caring for children over age 2.
“Flex care” is defined in the bill as “child care provided during designated nap hours and during brief periods” when an adult employee of a child care center is not present to provide supervision.
Subcommittee chair Rep. Devon Wood, R-New Market, said the bill was intended to allow adult child care workers to take a “brief moment” to use the restroom or grab a snack without leaving infants and toddlers unsupervised.
The bill does not define the time period a teenager could be the sole caregiver. Speakers at the subcommittee questioned the idea of “flex care” during a nap time.
“There’s no such thing as a nap time, like we’re talking about,” said Tiffany Welch, a parent and volunteer with Save the Children Action Network, noting that several infants are unlikely to sleep at the same time. She said she would not feel comfortable leaving any of her children, but especially the youngest ones, in the unsupervised care of a 16-year-old.
Several other speakers said they support the existing law allowing teens to care for older children but not those age 0-2. “… I think we know that things can go sideways pretty, pretty quickly, and it doesn’t take that much time,” Anne Discher, lobbyist for Common Good Iowa, said.
Wood, however, said it was a safety risk to deny child care workers even a brief break during the day. “I think it’s just really important for those employees, you know, we want to talk about the safest environment to make sure that someone’s getting a darn bathroom break if they have to,” she said. “Because what’s the safety risk if you’re spending an entire day not even able to have a brief moment of absence?”
Wood said she was willing to keep working on the bill to “balance what the safest situation is.” She and Republican Rep. Ryan Weldon of Ankeny voted to advance the bill, which now moves to the House Health and Human Services Committee. Rep. Tracy Ehlert, D-Cedar Rapids, voted against the bill.
